Codemasters Says "Racing is Everything"

[Pedro The Hutt]

I don't know how accurate these numbers are but it doesn't look like codemasters titles are big sellers.

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/250063/top-10-in-sales-racing-games/

That would probably be because most of their titles, like the Colin McRae/DiRT and Formula 1 series largely appeal to European audiences. Because Americans (stereo)typically can't be bothered by racing if the track isn't oval or straight and/or doesn't involve generous amounts of crashing, rally and Formula 1 simply never took off in the US.

But in Europe the McRae series holds a fair bit of prestige, but of course, you don't become an all time best seller with strong sales in Europe only. But that said, popularity and quality aren't exactly the same thing. Just because no one in the US buys their games doesn't mean they're bad. It just means they don't appeal to American tastes.

 

[Amnestic]

(and OFR was absolutely dreadful).

Flashpoint Dragon Rising was really good, I thought. Red River... not so much.

I love how close these two posts are to each other.

As for the news, the only games from Codemasters I've played are the OF ones. I've never been a fan of racing games (occasional Mario Kart/Wipeout title as the rare exception) so...this doesn't matter much to me. No more Operation Flashpoint I suppose, but after the unbelievably obnoxious Marine 'protagonists'* they showed off in Red River...that's probably a good thing.

[sub]*I'm still not sure if they were meant to be parodies and saying "look how stupid these marines are, how over the top is this?" or if they were meant to be taken seriously as realistic representations. Either way, fuck those characters. Seriously.[/sub]

 

[Hashbrick]

And on this day, Codemasters said "Checkmate" They finally figured out they only have the talent and inspiration to make racing games and when GRID 2 appears I will be happy.

 

[thiosk]

Good god I havn't played a racing title since... F-Zero? Maybe a little mario cart, but thats more a grief simulator than a racing title.

 

[krychek57]

Mmmmmmmmmmm, I do love me some Dirt 2 with my G27

Great plan Codemasters, great plan.

 

[Slayer_2]

As for the news, the only games from Codemasters I've played are the OF ones. I've never been a fan of racing games (occasional Mario Kart/Wipeout title as the rare exception) so...this doesn't matter much to me. No more Operation Flashpoint I suppose, but after the unbelievably obnoxious Marine 'protagonists'* they showed off in Red River...that's probably a good thing.

[sub]*I'm still not sure if they were meant to be parodies and saying "look how stupid these marines are, how over the top is this?" or if they were meant to be taken seriously as realistic representations. Either way, fuck those characters. Seriously.[/sub]

For racing games, I'm all about NFS: Shift, and more realistic titles. And I couldn't agree more about the stupid marines in Red River, in OFR, your dull, lifeless marine was more interesting and relatable than the annoying token black guy drill Sargent, who had nothing better to do the entire time than to tell you how shitty you and your fireteam are. As you're taking a 10-minute long drive towards a battlefield while getting strafed by mortar fire. Now, I've never been in the marines, but I think that PROBABLY isn't how it usually goes. The only good part about that sequence was the rock music they were playing during the drive.

The problem was that they tried to take ideas from Call of Duty (and they even said this themselves). That's what killed the game for me. At the point I went on a 3 kill streak with my knife, against terrorists with AK-47's, I was kind of incredulous. Anyone who played OFR can tell you that getting knife kills on the AI is near impossible.